Carco Theater, Seattle – Saturday, October 14th – 1:30 PM

FROM THE LAND OF GANDHI: This story puts a human face to the inadvertent country-based discrimination inside the workplace that defies the American spirit and affects the lives of more than 700,000 skilled immigrants from India.

HIMALAYAN REFUGEE:  This documentary short focuses on asylum-seeking Pakistani Ahmadis currently in Nepal.

CODE SWITCHED: A group of first-generation South Asians in Chicago face the pressures of living double lives between their families and society while chasing their own ambitions in love and the workplace.

FIVE O’CLOCK SHADOW: An Indian-American mother’s worst fear rises to the surface when she is the victim of racial abuse.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

Presented in partnership with

Watson Immigration Law is a Seattle-based immigration law firm, specializing in business immigration. We are passionate advocates for our clients, their families and their businesses; and dedicated to helping the immigrant community at large.

From the Land of Gandhi, Prakash Wadhwa, 2017, English, 48 min

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Imagine a naïve dreamer coming to the US. Imagine that dreamer not having the power to live freely for decades because of their land of origin. Today a high-skilled immigrant from India could wait more than 20 years to be a full member of the US society, often tied to an employer, unable to change careers or start businesses and living temporarily in their minds. This story of 4 immigrants, a decade after they came to study in the US, places a human face to the broken high-skilled immigration system. It sheds light on this largely unattended story of one million dreams waiting for freedom. It also highlights the need for reforming America’s high-skilled immigration at a time of intense globalization and the retirement of the baby boomers.

Director Bio

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From the Land of Gandhi was directed by Prakash Wadhwa.

Himalayan Refugee, Nikhil SIngh Rajputt, 2017, English / Urdu, 27 min

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This documentary short film focuses on asylum-seeking Pakistani Ahmadis currently in Nepal. Ahmadis are a sect of Islam that are deemed non-Muslim by the Pakistani Constitution and severe punishment is doled out to any Ahmadi found posing as a Muslim. Pakistani Ahmadis have migrated across the globe (to 206 countries); some of them are asylum seekers in Nepal. Nepal does not regard them as refugees, despite them being accepted by UNHCR in Nepal. This has left the 350-odd asylum seekers in a limbo, some waiting for a decade to get government clearance to be resettled according to UNHCR procedures. This is about their plight and their aspirations for a peaceful and dignified resettlement.

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Director Bio

Nikhil Singh Rajputt graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology [IIT] Delhi as a B.Tech in Textile Technology in 2007. He later attended a Summer Program at the University of Southern California [USC] Film School (2009). He has been an assistant director in the Mumbai film industry ever since. This is his first film.

Code Switched, Karan Sunil, 2017, English, 15 min

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A group of first-generation South Asians in Chicago face the pressures of living double lives between their families and society while chasing their own ambitions in love and the workplace.

This is the pilot episode of an 8 episode series.

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Director Bio

Karan Sunil is a Chicago-based writer, director, and currently a Senior Producer at the iO Comedy Network. He has written and directed short films such as Hot Cops (2016) and Crown (2014), which was selected for the 21 Minus Film Festival. He has also featured his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Karan is a graduate of DePaul University with a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Cinema.

Five o’ Clock Shadow, Sangeeta Agarwal, 2017, English, 7 min

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An Indian-American mother’s worst fear rises to the surface when she is the victim of racial abuse.

Five O’Clock Shadow comes from a very personal place for an Indian-American mother. The story came after the Kansas shooting of two South Asian men. It shocked the community and made headlines all over the world. As a mother of a young man who has a beard, the director’s first thought went to him and his safety.

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Director Bio

Five O’Clock Shadow is Sangeeta Agrawal‘s first film as a writer and director. She has been a stage actor for over 30 years and has acted in several short films in lead roles. Her films have been screened at numerous festivals, both in the U.S. and abroad. Her film, A Good Match, was screened at the Delhi International Film Festival where she won the Best NRI Actress award.